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KENNETT SQUARE – It goes without saying that Bob Allvord leaves the boys’ lacrosse program at Kennett High School in far better condition than when he arrived 20 years ago. Few would dispute that Allvord will go down as one of the all-time Southern Chester County lax coaching legends, right up there with Avon Grove’s Eric Jackson and Unionville’s Lee Krug.
“Bob is the face of our program and probably will be forever,” said Kennett Athletic Director Sean Harvey. “He is the reason we get to the playoffs every year and compete at a high level.
“He just knows how to run a program. And as good of a coach he is, he is a better person.”
In mid-May Allvord announced his retirement from coaching after two highly successful stints as the head coach of the Blue Demons. He is best remembered for accepting pleas to return to coaching in the winter of 2021 and helping author an amazing season a few months later as Kennett captured the Ches-Mont crown and advanced all the way to the PIAA Championship Game.
“The whole program came together, and great things happened,” said Allvord, 58. “It was amazing to be part of it.”
Longtime assistant Matt Petrick is taking over the reins from Allvord, who went 101-59 in eight seasons at the helm from 2010-13 and 2021-24.
“(Petrick) is due and he’s ready, and I just felt it was time to move on,” Allvord said. “The timing was just right more than anything.”
A three-year starter at West Chester East under head coach Jon Heisman, Allvord was later a junior varsity and varsity assistant coach for the Vikings in the late 1980s. A resident of Kennett for nearly 30 years, Allvord returned to coaching lacrosse at the youth level in 2000, a year before the Kennett High School program debuted. He coached at Kennett Middle School in 2005, and then became an assistant under Lorenzo DeAngelis at Kennett High School in 2007 before taking over as head coach in 2010.
The Demons went 41-34 in his first four seasons, and Allvord coached his son, Evan, for three seasons. After graduating in 2012, Evan went on to play college lacrosse at Cabrini.
“John Rohde, the head coach at Unionville at the time, gave me some advice in 2013,” Allvord recalled. “He said, ‘look, don’t miss out on that. Lacrosse will always be here and you can always come back to coach, but you will never be able to come back and watch your son play in college.’
“That really hit home with me. I stepped down at the end of that season and I didn’t miss any of (Evan’s) games in the next three seasons.”
Once Evan’s college career ended, Allvord returned to coaching at Kennett as a volunteer in 2017. By 2019 he was an assistant coach under Jim Trowbridge. And coming out of the COVID pandemic, the Blue Demons had a very promising roster.
“We had some issues and (Trowbridge) ended up resigning in the winter of 2021,” Harvey explained. “At that point I talked to Bob about how we were in a really tough spot, being as late as it was. It didn’t take much for him to say yes because that’s who he is. He wasn’t going to leave those kids hanging. It was meant to be.
“I was trying to recruit Bob for several years because I had heard so many good things. Just seeing him interact with the kids and getting to know him, I had plenty of conversations with him prior to him ultimately taking the job out of necessity.”
Kennett went on to win its only Ches-Mont boy’s lacrosse title in ’21, placed fourth in the District 1 Tournament, and won three times in states including a dramatic 11-10 victory over Garnet Valley in the PIAA Semifinal. The Demons then fell 10-2 to Radnor in the state final.
“A lot happened real fast,” Allvord said. “As I look back, it’s a part of my coaching career that I will never forget. It was a magical season – maybe it was the lacrosse gods saying thank you for coming back.”
It was just the second time in history a Kennett team had advanced to a state final (the 2001-02 Blue Demons boys’ basketball team won the state crown). Allvord was later named Pennsylvania’s Coach of the year by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
“I’ve told Bob that the run that they went on in 2021 was magical and I am appreciative to be a part of it,” Harvey said. “He allowed me into the inner circle and it was an amazing run.
“Kennett is a close-knit community. And it was something that everybody needed coming after a worldwide pandemic. And it was so important for that group of kids – they had agreed to come to Kennett and make a run together.”
The roster included homegrown stars like Sam Forte, Jake Freebery and Zach Hulme. And the theme of the season was often punctuated on social media with #homegrown.
“The kids stayed home, and good things happen when you stick together,” Allvord said.
In his second four-season stint as head coach, Allvord went 60-25.
“I did everything I could for the program, but like the first time after four years I was feeling a little burned out,” Allvord said. “My opinion is if I can’t give 100-percent to something, I shouldn’t be doing it.
“I didn’t want to do that to the kids.”
